MIDDLETON'S bus services are again in disarray according to commuters who petitioned a meeting of the Rochdale Local Transport Group.

MIDDLETON'S bus services are again in disarray according to commuters who petitioned a meeting of the Rochdale Local Transport Group.

They slammed First Manchester for allowing what they described as the disintegration of the number 17 service which runs from Manchester to Rochdale via Middleton and is officially a high-frequency service. But, the meeting at Rochdale Town Hall was told, it was now in a state of disintegration with services running late or missing altogether.

And they also complained about the state of the buses themselves. It was claimed that in the recent spell of hot weather every bus on the route had its heater on.

Group chairman, Peter Dawson, who received a petition from Middleton users said: "It is obvious there are serious problems with this service which was once classified by First as a Gold Star service. Well it's far from that and we have expressed our concerns to the company. They got a good grilling at meeting and were told they must do better."

"This bus travels the route of what is to become Middleton's first Quality Bus Corridor, what is the use of pouring all the money into that if the buses just don't turn up to use it?"

"What is also concerning is that when we last heard of the problems on the 17 route we were told the operation of the service was being transferred to Rochdale depot to improve it. Then they go an close the depot throwing it back into chaos."

A representative of First Manchester told the meeting they accepted there were problems with the 17 and said the company wanted to apologise. The problem had come about because of the closure of the Rochdale bus depot and the transfer of the 17 service to Queens Road depot in Cheetham. This had resulted in the loss of 30 drivers and they were struggling to fill the gap and were even taking on agency drivers as an interim measure.

Groups of bus users from Middleton Junction and Cheapside also petitioned the Group over the axing of JP Travel's number 12 circular bus service from Middleton. They said, this had been a lifeline for pensioners travelling to the doctors, chemists and other essential services.

Mr Dawson said: "The Passenger Transport Executive accepted that although the number 13 service had partly replaced this, it was aware there were gaps in the coverage, particularly as far as the pensioners from Middleton Junction and Cheapside were concerned. The PTE has agreed to re-examine the situation and see if anything can be done to improve the local bus services."

Following representations, the PTE is also being asked by the Local Transport Group to try to reinstate the all-day direct bus link between Alkrington and Manchester.